Man Shoots Woman, Then Himself In Hartford Store

HARTFORD — A woman was critically wounded when her husband shot her on Saturday morning inside a crowded Family Dollar store at Park and Lafayette streets, police said.

Sharon Rentas, 41, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the torso and is in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Hartford Hospital. The alleged assailant, Elvin Perez-Soto, 51, shot himself in the chest and also is being treated at Hartford Hospital where he is under police guard, Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said.

The shooting occurred about 11:50 a.m. Rentas and Perez-Soto were in the process of separating, police said.

Perez-Soto is being charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, criminal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and unlawful discharge of a firearm, police said. He is in stable condition and is being held under a $1 million bond.

An employee said she heard several popping sounds, then people screaming to get down or get out.

The gunman, she said, had no regard for any of the others in the store.

"He was all cocky," she said. "He didn't care. There were kids and families in there."

Customers and employees rushed the front door and flooded into the parking lot and across Lafayette Street to a Bank of America parking lot.

Major Crimes Division detectives were interviewing witnesses and working with store staff to obtain video from inside the store.

Rentas was in the store when Perez-Soto approached and opened fire with a revolver, shooting Rentas several times, then shot himself, Foley said. Police recovered the handgun.

William Johnson, who had just walked into the store, said he heard the gunfire and turned immediately around to leave. Customers and store staff were right behind him.

At least two employees took refuge in a manager's office inside the store and were later let out by police.